Friends of Medicare Harvest Supper

By Brandie Majeau

When Mandy Melnyk, a member of The Gathering Place Co-op, reached out to Chris Gallaway, the
executive director of Friends of Medicare, for an opportunity to partner together and discuss concerns
about public health care between urban and rural areas, he immediately accepted. On September 16,
The Gathering Place Co-op became part of a tour through Southern Alberta promoting Friends of
Medicare and raising awareness of their cause. The Ukrainian Dinner and Community Conversation
received an overwhelming response, with two separate seating times, and all tickets were sold out. The
attending guests ranged in age, with families gathering with their children, through to seniors voicing
their unease. The group was diverse and represented a significant portion of the population.

Gallaway provided the following statement: “We have been hearing growing concerns from folks in the
region about their ability to access family doctors, primary care, and hospital care when they need it.
This has intensified with the recent temporary closures of the Emergency Rooms in Smoky Lake and Lac
La Biche, as well as various closures in area health centres such as Boyle, Westlock, and St. Paul’s. Rural
communities are feeling the staffing crisis in our health care system most acutely. We continue to call on
our provincial government to take this issue seriously and work to ensure every community in Alberta
has the health services they need.”

Friends of Medicare is a non-profit advocacy group established in 1979. They are dedicated to
promoting, protecting, improving, and expanding the public health care system, working to keep these
issues in the public eye. Presentations and media relations are utilized to advocate for issues in the
public health care system. Chris Gallaway began the opening presentation for the harvest supper by
recounting his childhood on a farm in Saskatchewan. He mentioned that the drive from Edmonton to
this small rural community was a poignant reminder of the deficiencies in the health care system. As
Gallaway passed combines and farm equipment hard at work in the fields during the busy harvest
season, he couldn’t help but think of the lack of access to emergency services in these areas. His initial
speech initiated a community discussion where individuals could converse about their struggles either
working in the field or their experiences attempting to be treated in an under-resourced, understaffed
health care facility.

Professionals opened up about feeling overwhelmed in urban centers due to the influx of patients
coming from rural areas because they have no access to emergency services. Concerns about closures
and proper seniors’ care punctuated the conversations, as well as concerns about misconceptions
regarding what is really happening in the health care system. Many attendees also felt that the strain
may be the result of a push for a more privatized health care system. Voices came together expressing
that the lack of health care staff is due to infrastructure and poor conditions; the staff is there, they are

just leaving the system. Continuing the conversation were concerns about a lack of government
investment, proper infrastructure and equipment, and discouraged health care professionals finding
they cannot do what they need to with what they have.

Pharmacists, nurses, other health care professionals, and supporters of the cause used this event as a
valuable tool for community building and bridging a connection between urban and rural areas. The
event raised awareness that both demographics are facing the same issues but feeling the strain in
different ways. While attempting to sustain these rural communities, the cost and lack of health care
resources are straining families with a delay, or even a lack, of access to proper health care. As these
patients move to larger areas for care, health care providers explained their increased caseloads, with
many being asked to step into roles to fill the gaps where care is lacking, and occasionally providing
services to patients in areas that are not close enough to hospitals.

One guest likened the situation to a very expensive band-aid solution. Others followed with comments
that they were alarmed because many individuals are unaware of how challenging the health care
system really is and how important it is to support this cause and have conversations about the
challenges the health care system is facing. While the evening was punctuated with laughter and loud,
friendly conversations, the underlying issues weighed heavily on the minds of the guests. Mandy Melnyk
offered a perfect summary for the evening: “We have many advocacy organizations in Alberta that work
in the interest of the people, and Friends of Medicare is very important. Our health care system was
built on the core cooperative values, so it is incumbent on all Albertans to support the work that is done
on behalf of the people! I am simply a member of the Gathering Place Co-Op but believe strongly in
supporting all people in Alberta and building bridges between urban and rural people and
organizations.”